South Africa's struggles in the sub-continent

South Africa: A team that has confounded the cricketing world ever since their readmission in 1992. They produce sparkling cricket which makes them invincible one day while they choke in a way which can make even second-rate teams shudder.

Such is their method of losing that a book has been devoted to them. In "The Art of Losing" by Luke Alfred, the book opens up with a quote from Malcolm Gladwell, "We live in an age obsessed with success, with documenting the myriad ways by which talented people overcome challenges and obstacles. There is as much to be learned, though, from documenting the myriad ways in which talented people sometimes fail."

Following their 1-4 thrashing in Sri Lanka, there are more questions than answers. This is a team that is on top of the Test championship, is a worthy contender for all major tournaments and has a talent pool that can overcome any major deficiencies when it comes to team composition issue. With this walloping, one wonders about the future course of action South Africa will take in ODIs.

It was a different story about 4-5 years ago. South Africa's batsmen and bowlers were in prime form. Oppositions would get demolished and the pressure would be demolished. The conditions mattered little when a South Africa team were in form. The focus in this article is the comparing South Africa's performance before the 2011 World Cup and how their performances have suffered a dip after the World Cup due to inconsistency and injury.

SOUTH AFRICA'S DOMINANCE PRE-WORLD CUP

South Africa built up tremendous momentum before the World Cup. 2008, in particular, was a golden year for South African cricket. They had won a Test series in England after 43 years while they registered their first ever Test series win in Australia. Buoyed by the success in Tests, South Africa performed stupendously in ODIs. Out of the nine bilateral series South Africa played, they won seven and lost two. Their only disappointing performance was in the 2009 Champions Trophy when they were knocked out in the first round. In the course of this period before the 2011 World Cup, we look at the factors behind South Africa's success in both bowling and bowling.

BATTING

NAME

MATCHES

INNINGS

RUNS

AVERAGE

STRIKE RATE

FIFTIES

HUNDREDS

AB de VILLIERS

43

43

2193

62.65

99.23

12

8

HASHIM AMLA

39

39

2094

58.16

92.65

13

7

JP DUMINY

41

40

1376

45.86

91.55

9

2

JACQUES KALLIS

31

31

1356

46.75

83.13

13

1

GRAEME SMITH

36

36

1169

33.4

81.29

6

1

* The statistics are taken from 01st January 2009 till the end of the 2011 World Cup.

BOWLING

NAME

MATCHES

WICKETS

AVERAGE

ECONOMY

STRIKE RATE

FOUR WKT HAUL

FIVE WKT HAUL

DALE STEYN

34

56

26

4.93

31.5

2

1

MORNE MORKEL

28

50

21.84

4.87

26.8

3

0

JOHAN BOTHA

38

39

40.43

4.69

51.7

0

0

LONWABO TSOTSOBE

20

39

18.74

4.49

25

4

0

WAYNE PARNELL

19

31

30.48

5.96

30.6

1

2

ROBIN PETERSON

12

22

20.63

4.68

26.4

1

0

JACQUES KALLIS

31

20

35.6

4.77

44.7

0

0

*The statistics are taken from 01st January 2009 till the end of the 2011 World Cup.

One can see that AB de Villers and Hashim Amla formed the bedrock of the South African batting. AB de Villiers, in particular, was the stand-out. He scored eight centuries at an average of 62 and an awesome strike rate of 99.23. Amla was also in sublime touch, averaging 58 and having a strike rate of 92.65. If one has a look at the contributions of the South African batsmen, one sees that most of them average over 45 and 50, with Graeme Smith a notable exception.

The bowling has the X-Factor in the form of Dale Steyn and also Morne Morkel. Steyn, in particular, led the attack with distinction with 56 wickets at a strike rate of 31.5 and at an economy rate of 4.93. Morne Morkel was the able foil with 50 wickets at an average of 21.84. The surprise factors in this list are Lonwabo Tsotsobe, Robin Peterson and Wayne Parnell. Tsotsobe's average of 18.74 is the best in this whole list while Peterson averages in the low 20s. Parnell has a high economy rate of 5.96 but he has the most five wicket hauls in this period. This table highlights the fact that South Africa possessed players who chipped in at vital moments

Thanks to the efforts of both the bowlers and the batsmen, South Africa possessed the best Win/Loss ratio (W/L) among all the Test playing countries before the World Cup.

TEAM

MATCHES

WON

LOST

TIE

N/R

W/L

SOUTH AFRICA

46

31

15

0

0

2.05

AUSTRALIA

78

49

25

0

4

1.96

INDIA

72

43

24

1

4

1.79

SRI LANKA

61

35

22

0

4

1.59

ENGLAND

53

27

25

1

0

1.08

PAKISTAN

52

22

29

0

1

0.75

NEW ZEALAND

59

23

31

0

5

0.74

WEST INDIES

48

13

31

0

4

0.41

SOUTH AFRICA'S SLIDE AFTER THE WORLD CUP

It was a case of the nerves again in the World Cup. After performing well in the league stages, they choked at a crucial stage when they lost to New Zealand in the quarter-finals. From then on, South Africa would be plagued by inconsistency, injury issues and the curse of the rotational policy.

After the end of the World Cup, they played seven bilateral tournaments (series involving three or more matches) and had a mixed result. They won three, lost three and one was drawn. During this period, South Africa rested some of their senior players for the ODIs. One can also see that South Africa played limited ODIs in that period and the inconsistency crept in.

In this stage, the focus is how a team that was known for all-round contributions struggled for consistency in all departments.

BATTING

NAME

MATCHES

INNINGS

RUNS

AVERAGE

STRIKE RATE

FIFTIES

HUNDREDS

AB de VILLIERS

29

27

1294

64.7

99.38

8

3

HASHIM AMLA

27

25

1213

50.54

88.15

7

3

JP DUMINY

26

24

765

36.42

80.52

3

1

FAF du PLESSIS

32

31

739

26.39

91

4

0

GRAEME SMITH

21

20

662

33.1

74.29

4

2

*The statistics are taken from 03rd April 2011 till 01st August 2013.

BOWLING

NAME

MATCHES

WICKETS

AVERAGE

ECONOMY

STRIKE RATE

FOUR WKT HAUL

FIVE WKT HAUL

LONWABO TSOTSOBE

31

44

29

5.08

34.2

2

0

MORNE MORKEL

22

37

24.48

4.87

30.1

2

1

RYAN McLAREN

20

31

25.83

5.12

30.2

3

0

ROBIN PETERSON

29

31

36.41

5.09

42.9

1

0

DALE STEYN

19

21

34.66

4.42

47

0

0

*The statistics are taken from 03rd April 2011 till 01st August 2013.

If one has to compare it to the period before the World Cup, the South African middle order is proving to be their biggest Achilles Heel. Faf du Plessis' average of 26 is the biggest stumbling block for the Proteas. Duminy's average has stumbled from 45 to 36 while Graeme Smith has not had the impact at the top, averaging just 33 with a strike rate of 74.

The bowling has also been plagued by Steyn's absence due to injury in the recent Sri Lanka series. His easing workload in the ODIs has blunted the South African bowling. If one has to look at the economy rates of the bowlers, most of them are over five. Tsotsobe, who had an economy rate of 4.49 before the World Cup, has gone over five. The strike rate and economy of Peterson, their first choice spinner in ODIs, is over 40 and five. For South Africa, their potency has been dulled due to injury concerns to Steyn.

Thanks to the inconsistency in both departments, their W/L ratio has taken a big dip. This table illustrates South Africa's fall from the top.

TEAM

MATCHES

WON

LOST

TIE

N/R

W/L

INDIA

58

37

18

2

1

2.05

ENGLAND

47

27

17

1

2

1.58

PAKISTAN

54

30

21

2

1

1.42

AUSTRALIA

49

26

19

1

3

1.36

SOUTH AFRICA

34

16

16

1

1

1

SRI LANKA

71

31

35

1

4

0.88

NEW ZEALAND

30

12

16

0

2

0.75

WEST INDIES

55

22

30

3

0

0.73

Along with choking at major tournaments, South Africa's inconsistency is proving to be their biggest hurdle as they plan ahead for the 2015 World Cup. Consider this table which highlights their performance in the sub-continent. The statistics re-affirm that the subcontinent is a real bogey for South Africa

TEAM

MATCHES

WON

LOST

TIED

N/R

W/L

AUSTRALIA

37

21

14

0

2

1.5

PAKISTAN

37

16

19

0

2

0.84

WEST INDIES

26

9

16

0

1

0.56

SOUTH AFRICA

26

7

19

0

0

0.36

ENGLAND

39

9

29

1

0

0.31

NEW ZEALAND

21

2

16

0

3

0.25

*The statistics are taken from 01 January 2000 to 01 August 2013. Bangladesh have been excluded from this list. Pakistan have not been included as they did not host matches after March 2009.

CONCLUSION

The above table might be an aberration when it comes to linking South Africa's future in ODIs. They do not play much in the sub-continent and the next World Cup will be played in Australia and New Zealand in 2015. In both these countries combined, they have a W/L ratio of 0.84 (the period taken is from Jan 01, 2000), which is much better than their record in the sub-continent. With South Africa's pace arsenal and the familiarity of the conditions, they will once again re-affirm their tag of becoming the favourites. For the moment though, the path for South Africa is murky and they will be looking for a reversal in fortunes soon.